M95 Questions

[Beekeeper]

I read the previous post and it made me decide to ask my questions as there seems to be a few experts about.
I have a M95 that I bought as a basket case and have rebuilt it with a manlicher stock and it looks great.
The problem I have is the bolt seems to require a lot of extra effort to cycle.
I know it is a cock on open bolt but it sometimes seems like I need a hammer to cycle it.
It is not a numbers matching bolt .
Is it possible to lap the lugs and rails to get a better operation of the bolt?
Would doing a bent bolt handle (looks ) cause it to be worse?
I purchased a product called Moly-Fusion (mfg claims it is grease on steroids) to use on the bolt but would like to try everything possible first.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

beekeeper

[acsteve]

a dental pick to get all hidden crud out?? Maybe very carrfully smoke the bolt head and check for tight spots and then gently fit as needed? If you have not had the bolt apart, find instructions on surplus guns and use light oil? I have one which still doesnt always close, it is my parts gun?

[StarMetal]

I read the previous post and it made me decide to ask my questions as there seems to be a few experts about.
I have a M95 that I bought as a basket case and have rebuilt it with a manlicher stock and it looks great.
The problem I have is the bolt seems to require a lot of extra effort to cycle.
I know it is a cock on open bolt but it sometimes seems like I need a hammer to cycle it.
It is not a numbers matching bolt .
Is it possible to lap the lugs and rails to get a better operation of the bolt?
Would doing a bent bolt handle (looks ) cause it to be worse?
I purchased a product called Moly-Fusion (mfg claims it is grease on steroids) to use on the bolt but would like to try everything possible first.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

beekeeper

I can tell you that they are an inherently hard action to work. Try a K31 Swiss and see the major difference in it compared to the M95.

Joe

[MtGun44]

What KIND of M95? Mauser 1895, Straight pull Steyr M95, Winchester Model 95? Lots of "M95's"
out there.

Bill

[StarMetal]

Sorry, I was thinking the M95 Steyr straight pull rifle.

Joe

[VintageRifle]

They Steyr M95 bolts are not the easiest to work. What I did to mine was to take it part and really grease up the moving parts. Made it work alot better, but it will never work like a K31 bolt.

[Beekeeper]

MTGun,
It is a M95 steyr 8x56R straight pull.

Thanks guys ,
I guess I will try the lapping of the lugs and rails first and then if it doesn't work any better I'll try the Moly-Fusion stuff.
I have another bolt body so I may try the bent bolt idea anyway.
Ithink it will give the weapon a much better look.
Saw some of the earlier civilian models with bent bolts on a steyr site and they were straight pull also.


beekeeper

[StarMetal]

Why would you bend the bolt? It was made to operate with that straight bolt. I guess I had the right rifle in mind. Like I said in the first post they are hard operating rifles...will never be like the K31 Swiss.

Joe

[JW6108]

Smoothing it up can't do any harm, but these things work better if snatched vigorously...mine does anyway. Balking during primary extraction was one of the reasons these guns were not used as much as other designs, particularly in a combat environment that involved dirt and heat buildup; I have read that some of them shows signs of the bolt having been hammered at some point to get them to open (probably at a very inopportune time). Like with pump action rifles/shotguns, tentative operation can often lead to poor functioning.

I would guess that bending the bolt would tend to misdirect some of the effort to open it, thus giving you even further problems. As Star says, they were designed with a straight bolt for a reason.

[DanM]

If you aren't in a hurry, you can re-cock the cocking piece after firing, and the bolt will cycle much easier. I also tried polishing my M95 bolt, and it helped very little, or not at all. Being well made to begin with, the extra polish was just not needed. What does work is shortening the firing pin spring by 2 or 3 coils. I did that to mine, one coil at a time. It still busts surplus ammo, and the bolt is much easier to cycle. Actually I bought an extra FP spring from TN gun parts, and did the cutting on the spare. Not really necessary, but since I wasn't sure of the outcome, I wanted a spare on hand before cutting(grinding). Worked very well....

[MilSurpFan]

The trick with the M95 Mannlichers is making sure the bolt head locks in place properly at full extension. They are designed to lock in place so that there is little drag on the lugs during cycling. Most of the bolts are worn, and the bolt head does not lock and bolt head rotates and binds in the receiver. You will notice this also when removing the bolt and the head snaps back. They are NOT supposed to do that.

check out http://www.ryngate.org/M95/ particularly the Worn Extractor Tail section